Airline pilots, flight attendants travel, pack, unpack, and pack again. Military families, diplomats, and Foreign Service personnel move their entire households and change locations frequently. Do they become accustomed to it and thus, don’t mind when they need to pack up and move again? Is that possible?

M-O-V-I-N-G!

I’m already shuddering thinking about it. The moving part is not too bad. The getting ready to move part is horrible!

We are considering an international move, so there is more involvement than moving across town or to another USA state. Make A List, Make Several Lists, Make A Master List, Confusion…

When we were younger, single and had not yet met each other, we made individual international moves. He moved to Stuttgart, Germany in the military at age 18. I moved to Sydney, Australia to teach music at age twenty-nine.

That was then; this is now…

Now we are both 71. We are still active and have a semi-involved life of church activities, volunteering, marketing; he manages some investment properties and I teach several private piano students.

I live with a disability, Multiple Sclerosis. That adds another dimension to our move. I will talk about that issue in a later article.

I dread getting started with the moving process. It has been over twenty-five years since we’ve moved. My husband still worked for a major corporation. They sent packers and movers. All we needed to pack was our suitcases, like we were going on a trip.

We were having a vacation trip while the moving van traveled from Minneapolis, MN to Phoenix, AZ. Our furniture would be in storage for two months until the house we purchased was completed. Our drive lasted a week and we visited many sights along the way. A vacant apartment waited for our arrival. This next move is completely using our own finances. My husband probably has it all worked out. We haven’t gotten around to discussing it. We are blessed with his retirement checks. They help make life easier.

I checked the internet about international moves and there is much to be done!

I’d better get moving!

This will be a good thing for me. I am a pack rat and tend to keep many “things” that will NEVER be used again. I am going to have fun! So, my part is going to be easier than his. Getting my husband to throw his stuff away will be difficult. Our garage looks like a war zone! My first condition to him for us to even think about moving is that he gets the garage and his side of our office organized and extra stuff discarded.

I think that is never going to happen. Maybe my concern about moving is a moot point!

Still…

It’s never too late to get started!

Has anyone lived through an international move? What is your advice for surviving it?

I have moved many times pre-MS, always with a sense of great anticipation & confidence. However, I’ve never moved internationally, and I’d be hard pressed to consider that at my age of 59+ let alone in my 70’s. I’m currently considering a local move due solely to the fact that I am in an unbalanced, unmotivating, uninspired stagnant platonic relationship of 16 years. UGH… the fears are overwhelming.

I’ve spent far too long in a dead-end mud hole where I am greatly dissatisfied & unfulfilled simply out of my own fears & inability to cook or feed myself & lack of funds. I ave been thinking of, planning & preparing for this for about 18 months so I can find a life partner more like-minded.

I wish you all the best & I hope you can be at peace with your choice to take on a new chapter of discovery & exploration!